Cumberland police jump-starts 2015 cold murder case

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Monday afternoon, a group of retired and veteran homicide detectives will huddle around a conference room table inside the Cumberland Police Department and listen as Commander Suzanne Woodland walks them through the only unsolved murder case to plague the far eastside town in the past 10 years.

“We’ve got a plethora of knowledge coming together tomorrow, experience,” said Woodland. “I’m hoping that what they do is come in and see something that could have been done better or maybe that we didn’t see.

“I’m hoping we can get something going on this and put somebody behind bars.”

Seth Dunn, 28, was found shot to death in his Knoll Ridge apartment June 25, 2015.

Woodland said she’s talked with her best suspect.

“I truly believe this was an accident; these people had no beef,” she said. “This guy had no problems with anybody. There was no reason to shoot him. I think what we have is a weapon that somebody was playing around with and didn’t know how to properly use.”

Woodland has a witness who told her that she spotted the suspect with Dunn when she left his apartment at 4 a.m. on the day he died.

“It was his friend and lived in the neighborhood and also would supply some marijuana to Seth and would hang out and smoke with him,” said Woodland, who was told Dunn was being pressured to deal pot by his friend. “We’re still looking at this person as a suspect. There are a lot of fingers pointing at that direction. At one time I think we thought that this could have been an accident, but since somebody didn’t come forward and say, ‘Hey, this is all an accident,’ this has turned out to what it was.”

Emily Dunn said she’s met the man police suspect killed her brother.

“I was told by multiple people that there was a few people at my brother’s place that night,” she said. “I’ve met the people who I was told was in his apartment that night and since the police told me that they knew who did it. It was somebody close. I’ve pretty much cut everybody I know off.”

Michael Dunn said upon hearing of Seth’s death: “My first response as a father was a six pack and a pistol, and I was out the door…and the insanity part of that is, you don’t even know who you’re mad at, and you don’t want to be that person who is going to create all this confusion and pain and chaos in somebody else’s life or bring retaliation back on you and your family.”

So the Dunns have waited three years for DNA evidence, a guilty conscience or a slip of the lip to give Cumberland Police the probable cause they need to make an arrest.

“I just know that we lost a really good person because of some irrational, stupid behavior or bad thinking process by some other individual that was a positive contributor to society,” said Michael. “He loved people and, like I said, his mantra was, ‘Spread some love.’ And he definitely did that.”

If you know anything about the killing of Seth Dunn at the Knoll Ridge Apartments in Cumberland in June of 2015, call Crimestoppers at 317-262-TIPS.